Frozen Meals: Anybody Tried This?

wifeofaussie

I'm probably way late but just saw this on Pinterest: https://www.aturtleslifeforme.com/2011/06/freezer-meals-on-cheap.html

Has anybody tried this?  I really want to try it!  Especially since DH and I are talking about TTC again.  Would be handy in my last trimester...

jwthoms1

I freezer cook a few times of year so I don't have to cook during the school year.  I HATE dirtying my kitchen everyday.  I haven't gotten the deals on meat like that other website advertised but I do try to get stuff on sale and make lots of meals at once. It's fun, but exhausting, to have one crazy cooking day and then essentially not cook for the next few months.

 I also always have something on hand for a friend in need.  Bonus! 

JOEBunny

I don't do what she does, but I do precook most of our meat.  It is too hard to cook for 2 people who eat at 5:30 and 2 people who eat at 7:30 and take DD to all her after school and get the kids to the park on a regular basis with long meal preps. 

I make chicken like she describes, but in smaller batches.  We seldom eat more than 3 pounds of meet a week, so the quantities she talks about would be too much for me to keep track of.   We also watch sodium, so I tend to use less marinade and more things like lemon juice, marmalade, molasses, ect. 

I also precook rice, which freezes very well and saves 30 minutes of prep time and can be used to fill out a lot of different meals with fruits, veggies, and meat.  

All this means that I can microwave the kids dinners in a couple of minutes, since they like simple elemental meals over "mixed" together things, and then use the same ingredients to make something more "challenging" for DH and I.

I also find there is a lot less waste this way.  When I used to cook meat nightly, a lot went to waste.  Now, virtual nothing does.  I would also challenge someone to tell the difference between properly thawed and reheated meat and "fresh" cooked.   This is particularly true if you are merging flavors together with fruits and vegetables and meat.

Mama Jan

I do a lot of freezer meals - not like "once a month cooking" or anything though.  Usually when I cook a meal, I'll double or triple it and freeze portions for future meals.  I have about a dozen crockpot meals in the freezer right now, all prepped and ready to just dump in when needed (and SO thankful right now that I have them because I'm in too much pain from this pregnancy to cook).

Bought a deep freezer on craigslist for really cheap and it's been one of our best purchases.  We stock it full of meat, veggies, etc (and ice cream....) when there are big sales.

beanchor

Thanks so much for this post. I have been looking for ways to jazz up my meal planning and found this. As I looked at your link, I started some web surfing and  discovered the following link about a freezer meal exchange group. I think I will propose this idea to my mom's group. I like the idea of preparing freezer meals, but having three of the same thing doesn't appeal to me.

https://www.mealplanningmagic.com/2011/01/start-freezer-meal-exchange-group-cook.html

thanks